Author: Sancroft, W.
Biography:
SANCROFT, W. (fl 1784)
His only known publication, Poems on Various Subjects, written in collaboration with T. Harpley (Thomas Harpley, q.v.), was published in London and it is possible that the author was London-born. His first name was most probably William. The volume has not been seen. In the absence of internal evidence, the little known about Harpley, whose working life was spent in Liverpool, suggests that the book might have been the product of a boyhood friendship formed in Norfolk, where a William Sancroft, the son of Sarah and William Sancroft, was baptised at Carbrooke, Norwich, on 13 May 1755 (and a Thomas Harpley at Norwich in 1757). His father William (1727-80) was born and died in Norwich. After the death of his father the younger William may have pursued a career in London, which would account for the place of publication; a William Sancroft also married in London at St. Michael Cornhill on 3 Aug. 1786; his bride was Elizabeth Stonehouse. But there was also a William Sancroft, a foundling, born at St. Pancras, London, in 1786, so the suggested narrative is mainly speculation. (findmypast.com 9 Feb. 2022; ancestry.com 9 Feb. 2022)